Fickell's rise shows the drive that he was known for on field

Luke Fickell has been installed as Ohio State's 23rd head football coach, in the wake of the ouster of Jim Tressel.

Luke Fickell has been installed as Ohio State's 23rd head football coach, in the wake of the ouster of Jim Tressel.

A warrior as a nose guard for the Buckeyes in the mid-1990s and a firebrand as a linebackers coach the past few years, the 37-year-old Fickell had been named assistant head coach in March. He also had been appointed the interim coach for what was expected to be a five-game suspension of Tressel to start the 2011 season.

Neither Fickell, who will carry the interim tag, nor OSU athletic director Gene Smith was available for comment yesterday.

In March, when Fickell was introduced as assistant head coach, he swore his devotion to Tressel, who had given Fickell a huge career break by hiring him as a full-time assistant in 2002 at age 28. Fickell also offered these prophetic words:

"This place is not about one person. It's not about coach Tress. It's not about whoever is going to be wearing that headset on Saturday afternoon. It's much bigger than that."

Certainly, it suddenly is a much bigger situation for Fickell. He has no head-coaching experience, and now he has taken the reins of a program under intense NCAA scrutiny.

Fickell will lead a team that will be without five of its primary players - quarterback Terrelle Pryor, running back Daniel Herron, receiver DeVier Posey, left tackle Mike Adams and defensive end Solomon Thomas - through the first five games for NCAA violations related to their selling and trading of memorabilia for discounted tattoos.

In announcing the promotion in March, Smith praised Fickell's commitment to the Buckeyes.

"We have great trust and belief in Luke's ability to work with our entire coaching staff to lead our young men through the first five games this fall," Smith said then. "I have confidence our entire football family will work together to maintain our standard of excellence."

Whether Fickell is ready for the full-time role is uncertain. But his athletic background shows he is a competitor.

At DeSales High School, Fickell was a three-time state wrestling champion, winning 108 matches without a loss as a heavyweight in his last three seasons. He also was an all-star football player, signing with Ohio State in 1992.

After a redshirt season, he started a school-record 50 straight games in the next four years, from 1993 to 1996. During that span, the Buckeyes went 41-8-1 and shared in two Big Ten titles.

The last game of Fickell's streak was a Rose Bowl win over Arizona State. He played the entire game despite a torn pectoral muscle.

Not taken in the 1997 NFL draft, he signed as a free agent with New Orleans but never played. He spent a year on the injured-reserve list before being released.

Fickell graduated in 1997 and, in 1999, was named a graduate assistant coach by coach John Cooper. The next year, Fickell was hired by Akron as its defensive line coach.

In 2002, Tressel, in his second year with the Buckeyes, brought Fickell back as special-teams coach. Fickell moved to linebackers coach in 2004 and, a season later, was elevated to co-defensive coordinator with Jim Heacock. He became assistant head coach when Darrell Hazell was hired to coach Kent State.

Now, Fickell is the man in charge. He indicated in March that he had learned much from nearly a decade working under Tressel.

"As a coach, from the time we walked into Ohio State or our first coaching job, we're always watching and learning," Fickell said. "That's the great thing about being here: having the ability to watch and learn from one of the best."